Posts: 1 to 25 of 30

Topic: Boiler Room

So, I'm listening to the (currently) live Daniel Avery mix on Boiler Room and then the, frankly, pathetic sight of him completely alone, on camera gives me a moment of clarity and I realise what it is I dislike about Boiler Room.

DJing isn't a visual spectacle - it's an auditory one.

DJing has never been about being front and centre, the star of the show. The star of the show should be the music and the crowd should be front and centre. The DJ should be tucked out of the way, somewhere in the dark, playing other people's music.

Without overdoing the Grumpy Old Cunt routine*, it DID used to be like that - to such an extent that, famously, the positioning of the original DJ booth in The Hacienda made it almost impossible to see the dancefloor from within it. But the result of not having the DJ booth as the central focus was that people used to dance facing all directions as opposed to current times when most dancefloors are organised, facing front, with North Korean military like precision.

And Boiler Room exacerbates this whole 'trend'.

*Ok, so I have overdone the Grumpy Old Cunt routine but if you can tell me why I'm wrong I'd love to read it...

Re: Boiler Room

Re: Boiler Room

Don't sweat it Smashy, it's just a societal problem. Idolatry is a cancer which undermines the ability of people to think for themselves and separate art from those who make it. As structured religious worship has gradually declined it has been replaced by the idolisation of actors, pop stars, footballers and any random fuckwit who enjoys more than 5 minutes on a TV screen.

It's no surprise that the layout of your average club resembles a church, with the DJ lording it over everybody. Pity every club can't be like Turnmills, with an invisible DJ locked away in a soundproof booth - you always got a good bit of 'mingling' at Turnmills, so you did.

Re: Boiler Room

Smashy hits the nail on the head.

Bill Drummond wrote in his book '17' about music that should be enjoyed in the moment by those involved in it and there should be no record of it other than in the memories of those who took part in it.

Kind of how I feel about going to clubs,it's all about a particular moment in time that can never be captured and should just be enjoyed as a memory rather than kept as a selection of shitty youtube clips with crap sound and knob-end comments asking for tune IDs.

Re: Boiler Room

Amps wrote:

You can make it visually work if you have the right production etc.

One camera shot at the dj is just cheap and boring.

DJing is visually boring. End of story. In the same way that listening to an artist paint a picture would be. It doesn't matter whether it's a night out at a club or an afternoon in on YouTube, DJing is NOT a visual spectacle.

The whole idea that it needs 'the right production' to make it interesting is total anathema to me. My question would be, 'why'? Why would anybody seek to put 'the right production' in place so as to make a DJ visually interesting?

It's bollocks isn't it...

Save the fucking production budget - cut the fucking ticket and bar prices instead - turn the fucking lights off in the DJ booth and don't do anything to distract the cunts on the dancefloor from simply enjoying the music.

Re: Boiler Room

Couldn’t agree more with what Kevin said theres too much prominence given to how visual a dj is nowadays, this might be part of the reason people get mugged off so much from the likes of SHM – the music is so piss poor that they need other things to compensate like fancy lights and fireworks but this is what draws people in nowadays unfortunately. Style over substance. I did see / watch / hear / whatever the DT boiler room and kind of thought to myself ‘whats the point?’ I only really wanna hear what hes playing

Re: Boiler Room

fadass wrote:

When I saw the thread title, I thought you were going to be on it.

You could have worn your Alan Devonshire shirt and twatted that cunt in the stripey shirt.

Disappointed.

Obviously now that I've taken this stance when Boiler Room (inevitably...) comes knocking I'll have to turn them down. Unless they could put me in some sort of cupboard and broadcast the sound from inside whilst just showing a door for the duration. Plus then I could do the whole thing bollock naked like I do on mixlr...

Re: Boiler Room

Re: Boiler Room

Dan Harwood wrote:

You just don't hear the Grandstand theme tune enough these days. Might have to drop it myself on Saturday night.

The fella who did the Grandstand theme for the BBC also did some top quality jazz-funk and disco type stuff in the 70s - Keith Mansfield's his name - if that's your kind of thing at all - not exactly 'muscular' but fuck it eh...

Re: Boiler Room

Re: Boiler Room

smashdad wrote:

Amps wrote:

You can make it visually work if you have the right production etc.

One camera shot at the dj is just cheap and boring.

DJing is visually boring. End of story. In the same way that listening to an artist paint a picture would be. It doesn't matter whether it's a night out at a club or an afternoon in on YouTube, DJing is NOT a visual spectacle.

The whole idea that it needs 'the right production' to make it interesting is total anathema to me. My question would be, 'why'? Why would anybody seek to put 'the right production' in place so as to make a DJ visually interesting?

It's bollocks isn't it...

Save the fucking production budget - cut the fucking ticket and bar prices instead - turn the fucking lights off in the DJ booth and don't do anything to distract the cunts on the dancefloor from simply enjoying the music.

Watching someone drive a car is pretty visually boring, but the beeb throw millions of worth of production at it and call it TopGear.

Why would anyone do it with djing? Well if I owned Boiler Room and my big selling point was that it was video of a dj, I'd want it to look good etc.

I'm all with you though Smashy, it's a bad idea, badly executed. Just listen to the audio on soundcloud.

Re: Boiler Room

Amps wrote:

smashdad wrote:

Amps wrote:

You can make it visually work if you have the right production etc.

One camera shot at the dj is just cheap and boring.

DJing is visually boring. End of story. In the same way that listening to an artist paint a picture would be. It doesn't matter whether it's a night out at a club or an afternoon in on YouTube, DJing is NOT a visual spectacle.

The whole idea that it needs 'the right production' to make it interesting is total anathema to me. My question would be, 'why'? Why would anybody seek to put 'the right production' in place so as to make a DJ visually interesting?

It's bollocks isn't it...

Save the fucking production budget - cut the fucking ticket and bar prices instead - turn the fucking lights off in the DJ booth and don't do anything to distract the cunts on the dancefloor from simply enjoying the music.

Watching someone drive a car is pretty visually boring, but the beeb throw millions of worth of production at it and call it TopGear.

Why would anyone do it with djing? Well if I owned Boiler Room and my big selling point was that it was video of a dj, I'd want it to look good etc.

I'm all with you though Smashy, it's a bad idea, badly executed. Just listen to the audio on soundcloud.

Boiler Room and Top Gear are comparable? The things you learn on here...